[tmtranscripts] Ham on mercy

[David Schlundt]

2/9/2003

Greetings my children, I am Ham and I welcome this
opportunity to speak with just the three of you.  Let us
discuss human mercy.  For human beings being
merciful is a great joy.  A feeling of being released
from the dictates of a vengeful justice.  Mercy is that
quality of forgiving before it is necessary.  Mercy is a
quality of bending rather than requiring others to
bend.

Mercy is a step beyond what is simply just.  Mercy is
that quality of acknowledging gratitude and of being
humble in that acknowledgement.  Humble enough to
extend mercy to others that has been extended to
yourself.  Be merciful in all your dealings.  Be
considerate, soft-hearted, and forgiving.  The meting
out of justice alone is not satisfying--but justice
tempered with mercy is like bread for the soul.

Human beings are reaching for a higher sense of
fairness when mercy is applied.  The Father deals
with all his children mercifully.  He does not exact
retribution for error.  Rather does the Father gently
correct his erring children, letting them find a better
way to live every day.  The Father in his mercy
washes away all sin and makes new all things.   The
Father does not require an eye for an eye. The
Father's forgiveness precedes the erring act.  And the
Father's mercy takes the past and the future as
one--so that the erring mortal is given that
consideration as if he were already dwelling with the
Father in eternity.

Sin, purposeful rebellion against the Father, is also
understood by the Father.  And his mercy extends to
this as well.  The Father understands that, like all
children, mortal beings are seeking their own way and
in that seeking often err, rebel, sow conflict, and
actively sin against the will of the Father.  But as a
loving, all merciful, and all forgiving parent, the Father
is not offended by these things.  The Father does not
take umbrage or exception to the erring acts of
mankind. Rather does he see each individual from the
first to the last.  He foresees future acts of greatness
that may be misdirected in acts of rebellion in his
young child.

He forgives acts that are born of self-loathing and
stands ever ready to enter if that isolated person
would be open the door to his entry into his heart.
 This mercy encompasses the Father's great
redemption.  There is none that is so lost that they
cannot of their own will turn back around. Those lost
souls which have chosen wrongly make these choices
themselves.  The Father is forgiving even when final
justice is exacted.

The Father does not hold grudges or harbor
resentment.  The Father never withholds his love from
any child in the vast universe.  His love is freely
accessed for all.  All who would see and respond to
the Father's all-knowing presence.  His love is gentle,
never forceful, never insistent, always patient.  The
Father's love is vast.  There is no place that exists in
Creation that is not touched by the Father's personal
love.

Be at peace, my gentle children, know for certain that
you are received mercifully, completely, gently into the
Father's loving care.  Consciously give yourselves to
him in every way, in every moment, hold nothing back
from the Father's merciful presence.  Accept his
forgiveness.  Accept his mercy. And then gradually
accept his love.  For in his love all of the past, all of
the confusion, all of the sin of another time is washed
clean.  And you are redeemed in that moment.

There is no waiting.  There is no submission and then
suspense.  There is only experience of his love, his
tenderness, his merciful understanding. Everything
that is worthwhile in your lives is found, brought forth,
saved, and redeemed.  Everything that is not
worthwhile, everything that is purely a product of
human selfishness, willfulness, pride, vanity and so
forth--these things are left behind. And yes, your
hearts are made new, new in the consciousness that
you will go and sin no more.  New in the joy of
forgiveness.  And the joyous understanding that all
things are becoming new and the old ways are falling
away.

Do not worry, my gentle children.  Do not hold any
fear in your minds.  Replace human fear, human
doubt, human judgment with the Father's gentle
assurance that you are not so important in what you
are...as in what you are becoming.  All of life is
movement.  Stretching forward, moving toward the
Father and away from the self.  Moving toward love
and away from fear.  Moving toward assurance and
away from doubt.  All these things you know in your
minds, and you are beginning to experience in your
hearts.

The way forward is not as difficult as you may imagine
it to be.  Trust is everything.  Trust as you grasp the
Father's gentle hand as he leads you quietly, safely,
and securely along the paths of his choosing.  How
can human beings fail to trust such a loving, gentle,
and purposeful spirit?  When you fail to trust, it is
through your own fears.  But this is also forgiven,
understood, and mercifully dealt with as the Father
coaxes you step by step to move toward him like a
mother teaching her child to walk.  Those first steps
forward, and you fall into loving arms with great
praises.

And now, let us speak to each one of you.  Rebecca
you are growing to be a woman with more power and
goodness than you know.  The two in you are one.
 Your power is your goodness--and your goodness is
your power.  Cultivate grace as you move forward and
be at peace in all things.

My daughter Amalayne, you are opening your heart
more and more to the Father's gentle beckoning.
 Increasingly, you are trusting and allowing his
goodness to be partaken of.  Gradually, you are
releasing the old fears which have tied you down in a
way.  But you are now making great strides in
self-acceptance and the acceptance of the Father's
all-powerful forgiveness and mercy.  Don't be so hard
on yourself.  You can be especially unreasonable
over little things and require an exacting standard for
those things which will be forgotten in eternity.
 Increasingly, though, I see a greater peace coming
within you.  Grasp this peace, hold onto it, and when
fears invade your mind, ask them to leave.  And they
will obey you.  All things are becoming new.  Give
freely as you have been given.  Forgiveness is
beautiful.  Gratitude is beautiful.  And these things
walk together hand in hand.  Trust yourself.  Trust in
your instinct and judgment.  Find joy and let this joy
well up and spill over.  You are doing very very well.

My son, Jarad, you too have made great strides in the
recent past.  You are coming to be able to see
yourself in a truer light.  You have never flinched from
seeing the flaws or admitting the errors, so do not
flinch when you see your goodness and your true
potential.  Look toward the future with gratitude and
be ever hopeful for those who trust the Father and
walk with him find only opening expanses of truth,
beauty, and goodness.  Those who trust the Father
and walk with him, find true joy in serving others and
in giving.  You are a man who is finding great
strength...

 Welcome, my  son.  I am very grateful that you are
here this evening for I was hoping to be able to
give you a personal talk.
 You, my son, have been the steadfast one.  You
have been a steady and tireless worker for many
years.  Even before our association. You are a
person who is always curious, always seeking, always
probing for what is true.  And increasingly, you are
responsive to the Spirit of Truth, which unerringly
points toward greater truth in all the what?  levels of
confusion and searching.  As you respond to the
Master's spirit and his pointing toward truth,
remember also his good humor, his friendliness, his
love for you, and his embrace of you.  Yes.  As I was
saying.  The Master's spirit acts always like a best
friend.  Like that special person you want to share
experience with.  His spirit will point the way when you
ask of him.  He will be a counselor when you ask of
him.  But he will also be a loving friend.  A person who
stands always ready to defend you.  To aid in all your
good wishes, your good intentions.  For as a true
friend, he understands the deep longings of your
heart.  Go then, my son, about your life and
remember the Master's spirit is ever near by, ever
accessible, ever part of the joy of your experience.
 You are very welcome, my son.

Yes, there is one question for Keri.  Daughter, you do
well. Do not have any fears for the future.  Let down
your resistance to love in all its aspects.  Welcome
love and friendship in all the ways it can come to you.
 That is all.

For P.Z.   My dear, you must remember that human
accidents, pains, diseases--this is part of your life on
this planet.  And all these things can hold keys to
understanding if they are allowed to be opportunities
instead of simply obstacles.  Life on this planet will
always have physical troubles as part of experience.
 So do not be concerned over these things.  It does
not mean that the Father's love is any less.  That is
all.

Ham, do you have encouragement for Jim in the week
to come?  A:  Certainly.  My son, you do well.    You
will have the strength you need to deal with any and
all of the difficulties and trials that are before you.
 Remember that you have all you need in the now
time.  When you are tempted to yield to fears and
distress, think again about how all your needs are met
right now, and how blessed you are in all the many
ways you are blessed.  Do not be discouraged, but
rather take every opportunity to demonstrate your
trust in the Father.  All the little bumps in the road are
just that.  Do not allow your imagination to become
wedded with fear.  Rather allow your imagination to be
harnessed in ways that are realistic for the here and
now.  For tomorrow and the next day.  And in that
way, you will move forward and keep focused.  Be at
peace my son for you do well.

And now, for Vontiss.  My son, you also do well.
 Increasingly, you are trusting in the Father to give
you that which you need.  You are moving forward
and taking life a little more day by day and this is
good.  Now, you are preparing to move forward in
your work.  And this is possible because you are
accepting the Father's will and trusting in his
guidance.  Oftentimes, people trick themselves into
thinking that they are trusting the Father's will when in
actuality they are just having a period of good fortune.
 It is trusting the Father's will through the
disappointments and the hard times and the times of
struggle--this is what builds character.  And this is
what builds trust in the Father's merciful will.  This
spiritual work has been the engine that is moving
forward all areas of your life.  The spirit, spiritual
matters, spiritual understandings, acceptance of the
Father's love, acceptance of the Father's
forgiveness--these things are not done overnight.  Be
at peace for all is well and as it should be.

You are all making great progress in the Spirit.  This
last year has been difficult for all of you.  You have all
shown great courage, fortitude, generosity of spirit,
courage, and strength of character.  All of you are
beginning to shine with the spiritual light.  Know this:
 embrace what the Father has in store.  Begin to love
yourselves as he loves you.  Be grateful for his loving
tenderness and show that gratitude by being loving
and tender with others.

As always, my love my prayers are with you each.  Go
in peace.  Farewell.

--
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David G. Schlundt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
301 Wilson Hall
Nashville, TN  37203

Phone: (615)322-7800
Fax: (615) 343-8449
Email: David.Schlundt at Vanderbilt.edu
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Beauty is that which attracts the soul,
and that which loves to give and not
to receive

Kahlil Gibran
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